Hows my little thrower?

This past Christmas Laura and I went to my Dad's annual office christmas party and I spent the majority of the time throwing hatchets and throwing knives in the basement. Of course this was while enjoying several whiskey and cokes, a fantastic combination...right? Sharp things flying through the air fueled by booze? Perfect.

So of course after I sort of got the hang of it I couldn't shake the idea that I needed to do this at home. Just in time for BockFest 2012 I decided it was high time I build myself a throwing target!

Armed with some sturdy strap hinges and 4x4's I got my construction underway. We have a small house and not much storage so having it fold up was as important as it being sturdy.

Here are some different shots of the construction. I used some burly 6" hex screws to fasten everything together. The main posts are 5' long and its around 24" wide. After the initial construction I realized I needed a center support beam to hold up smaller sized stumps. I think (and hope!) the 4x4's will hold up to abuse but I've already stuck a hatchet into one of the 2x4 arms holding up the stump and now I'm not sure how long those will last. Perhaps I will add some metal on the ends for protection? 

This project taught me about the wonder of a carriage bolt, turns when you countersink one you should use a square hole (still not sure how to make one of those) not a round one or you'll have the hell of a time I did trying to get your lock nut even remotely tight.

Laura and I are starting to get the hang of hatchet throwing and I'm having a great time trying to get them to stick from various distances. This weekend a guy told me that anything that sticks from over 50 feet away is sheer luck, so I'm out to eventually prove him wrong. Throwing from around 40 feet away is really hard because controlling how many rotations is tricky not to mention I feel like I'm aiming about six feet above the target just to get a hit.

 Right now I'm still working on consistency at 15ish feet but I'm getting there!

After just a few takes, this is an un-photoshopped view from the target!

There is something incredibly satisfying about throwing something into a big hunk of wood and having it stick. I would say it makes me feel pretty manly but Laura seems to enjoy it too, and I'm not sure manly is what she feels. I think it will be a fun way to burn some time (while being active!) as well as another way to have fun with friends when they come over.

Thanks for getting me hooked Al! I got my target idea from this site!

Hows my little free hat?

So here is a long shot of hope to my friends of the world. About a month ago I won a free hat! During our adventures in Boston my favorite Miz. Fuller took us to a Goorin Brothers hat store and we found ourselves +2 hats on our way out. Later I liked them on the Facebook and noticed they gave away a hat every Friday (as if Friday's weren't already great enough).

This particular Friday they challenged their faithful fans to write about an adventure with their Goorin hat. Since thus far my adventures have been quite limited as my hat was quite new. So I embellished some past adventures I've had at work and beyond for this story:

My first Goorin adventure was in Cambridge, MA. It came after a stop at Harpoon Brewery where we bought a growler of their delicious beer. We then carried the growler all over the city sight seeing and our last stop was Goorin Brothers for my first Goorin purchase. But the adventure won't end there. My Next adventure with the seaworthy hat is big. With my seaworthy hat I am going to wear it proudly at work where people will exclaim, "Gee Tony where did you get that sharp hat." I will tell them proudly as we are talking about the wines I have crafted, Goorin Brothers! and I will tell them of the many adventures I have had wearing this hat. Such as, I hand-picked 3 tons of grapes on the hottest day of the century wearing this hat, This hat protected my dignity when I was caught skinny dipping in the pond, This hat fell into a vat when I lost my footing on a ladder and nearly added my own musk to this wine, This hat protected me when the press exploded and shot skins and seeds at everyone, no one was hospitalized, This hat earned me 15% more tips, This hat stayed on my head as we willed a funnel cloud to pass over our heads, This hat has contributed to at least one thousand 'private moments', This hat saved me from showing my early receding hairline...early, This hat was there when I stumbled down the slippery slope when I was collecting Maple Sap, I didn't spill a drop, This hat was the only thing about me that looked good after I survived a trip to Las Vegas, This hat was there for me when I needed a darker place to nap after all of these adventures and the untold adventures as well. My friends will love my wine, my hat, and my adventures, they will return to hear more, see my hat, and they will be wearing their Goorin telling their stories long after my time has passed.

Sure enough out of 70+ stories they chose mine! I thought for sure I would loose to the one about the dogs but I didn't! 

So to my new friends at Goorin Brothers, thank you for giving me a free hat, armed with my bit of knowledge about how social marketing works I will make sure this $100 hatgift will broadcast a personal marketing scheme money can never buy. In fact It's already begun, my faithful few blogging friends will read this, not to mention the automatic upload to facebook. I meant it when I said I will proudly tell my customers at the winery where I got this hat. I'm no longer a fan of Goorin Brothers but an ambassador to the brand.

Thank you, and you're welcome.